Verb Issue R67 (Mar. 1-7, 2013)

Issue #67 – March 1 to March 7

cutting out static alex cuba

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tyler mane Saskatchewan-born actor on freaking people out with a twist Q+A with New Country Rehab jack the giant slayer + 21 and over Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of christina Woerns

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NEWs + Opinion

entertainment

Q + A with new country rehab

Live Music listings

A new twist on old tunes. 8 / Q + A

Local music listings for March 1 through March 9. 14 / listings

Underground art

a couple of things

Nightlife Photos

Pushing the status quo with Dr. Sketchy’s anti-art school. 3 / Local

Andréanne le Hudon returns to making art. 9 / Arts

This week we visit Earls.

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15 / Nightlife

Editorial

pride and prejudice The Globe Theatre brings Austen’s classic novel to life. 9 / Arts

Jack the giant slayer + 21 and over We review the latest movies. 16 / Film

Mane attraction

ART & Production Design Lead / Roberta Barrington Design & Production / Brittney Graham Contributing Photographers / Baily eberle, danielle tocker, Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson

Actor Tyler Man on freaking people out. 4 / Local

On the cover:

Alex Cuba

On cutting through the static.

10 / cover

Publisher / Parity Publishing Editor in Chief / Ryan Allan Managing Editor / Jessica Patrucco staff Writers / Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson Contributing writer / jessica Bickford

Business & Operations

dead end

brand new bay

on the bus

Our thoughts on the SGI/motorcycle insurance debate. 6 / Editorial

This week we visit the Monterey Bay Bistro. 12 / Food + Drink

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

comments

Music

Game + Horoscopes

Here’s your say about changing taxi service in Saskatchewan. 7 / comments

Leonard Cohen, Aaron Pritchett + 100 Mile House. 13 / music

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, weekly horoscopes and Sudoku. 19 / timeout

Office Manager / Stephanie Lipsit Marketing Manager / Vogeson Paley Financial Manager / Cody Lang

contact Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 881 8372 advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 979 2253 design / layout@verbnews.com / 979 8474 General / info@verbnews.com / 979 2253

Please recycle after reading & sharing Photo: courtesy of the artist

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Underground Art

Photo: courtesy of adam hawboldt / verb magazine

Dr. Sketchy’s anti-art school challenges the norm by ADAM HAWBOLDT

W

hen you ask those uninitiated in the art world what they think of when they think of public art classes, invariably they’ll tell you of a couple specific images that come to mind.

They’ll tell you there’s the image of a model at the front of the room. In their mind’s eye, some people see this as a simple bowl of fruit. Others see a woman about to doff a bathrobe. Others still may think of a man with a few extra pounds around the mid-section and a flaccid, dangling member.

After that, they’ll tell you they picture artists sitting in front of easels or with sketch pads on their laps, eyes alternating from model to paper, sketching in silence.

Then there’s the instructor: milling about the room, hands clasped behind back, whispering words of encouragement.

Ask most people, and this is generally what they picture. Something quiet, calm, almost clinical.

What few people imagine is the kind of loud, sassy, drunken classes put on by the Dr. Sketchy’s anti-art school in Saskatchewan.

Dr. Sketchy’s was founded in New York City by a 22-year-old art school drop-out named Molly Crabapple.

The idea came while Crabapple was eking out a living as an artist model. The kind of model who just sat naked and still in big, bright, cold room after big, bright, cold room while a class of artists silently sketched her likeness.

Posing was too antiseptic, too stagnant an endeavour for Crabapple, so one day she got the idea to kill the clinical feel and make art class more kickass. Her idea?

Take art underground and give it a hipper, more vibrant and alternative spin.

Along with a group of friends, Crabapple convinced the owner of a local dive bar in Brooklyn to host the first Dr. Sketchy’s class.

A class that involved burlesque performers and music and liberal doses of booze.

That was 2005. These days the Dr. Sketchy’s anti-art movement has marched clear across the globe.

With more than 100 branches all over the world — everywhere from Sydney to London, from Tokyo to Rome — Dr. Sketchy’s is handsdown the largest anti-art school on the planet.

And, unbeknownst to many, four years ago it came to Saskatchewan.

To the Free Flow Dance Centre in Saskatoon, to be precise.

“Part of the draw, part of the reason we put these classes on, is to put the life back in life drawing,” says Jackie Latendresse, founder of the Free Flow Dance Company. “They take art out of the boring, sterile silent classroom environment and put it into a fun context for people.”

Not only are the Dr. Sketchy’s classes more fun than formal art classes, they’re also more welcoming, too.

The first thing you notice when you walk into the Free Flow

Dance Centre on anti-art night is the music.

For this month’s Dr. Sketchy’s event (the one featuring Roller Derby girls as models), the music blasting from the sound system ranged from the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right” to a fitting song that explained why “you can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd.”

Lying on her back in the centre of the room is a girl who goes by the roller derby name Spanx Givin. She’s dressed in zebra-print leotards, short black shorts, black t-shirt and a pair of black and yellow roller skates. Her left leg is lifted, pointed to the ceiling. With her hands, Spanx Givin is pulling her bright yellow skate laces towards her chest.

This is the pose she’ll hold for the next five minutes. All around her tables fill with people drawing. Most have sketch books, while some are using computerized drawing tablets. The crowd ranges in skill level from professional comic book artists to fine artists to ordinary folks with two left hands — so to speak.

“That’s the other thing that really draws people to this,” says Latendresse. “Because of the atmosphere, it’s less threatening to people who aren’t necessarily skilled artists. We’re open to people of all levels, from rank beginners to professionals. We have someone who walks around and gives tips if you want them, and our contest (which is a staple of the Dr. Sketchy’s experience) isn’t based on skill or how good your drawing is. It’s all about how creative you can be.”

From the sound system the music is interrupted, and a voice tells the crowd they have only a few more seconds to finish the drawing.

Then, unexpectedly, Spanx Givin changes positions.

“These events, they’re challenging to those who already have skill because the models move, so there are different angles and different shadows,” says Latendresse. “But it’s also nice for people who are just starting, too. It’s only five to ten minutes for a drawing, so if it’s too tough an angle or you’re not happy with the pose, just wait a couple of minutes and another one will come up.”

And come up they do. One after another, like clockwork. As more and

more models pose, and the night grows later, more alcohol is imbibed. The volume of the crowd increases; voices begin to rise over the music.

And as you look around at the people — some clutching pencils, others clutching glasses of vodka, many smiling and laughing — you realize that Latendresse is right. Dr. Sketchy’s anti-art classes are more fun than normal art classes.

Way more fun.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Mane Attraction Saskatchewan-born actor and former pro-wrestler Tyler Mane brings his new movie to town by ADAM HAWBOLDT

H

ere’s the scenario: you’ve just started your own movie production company and you’re about to make your first film. It’s a horror flick.

And you want to make sure the cast includes veteran and venerable names in the genre.

How do you go about getting, say, the guy who played Jason Voorhees to be the bad guy in your project?

Simple. You challenge him to a fight.

Or at least that’s what Tyler Mane did.

See, earlier last year Mane (who played the iconic serial killer Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s Halloween films) was sitting around his place in Los Angeles with Derek Mears — the guy who played Jason in 2009’s Friday the 13th.

“Derek and I have been friends since I moved out here in ’88,” says Mane. “We live a block and a half away from each other. He’s always over at the house. So this one day we’re sitting around having a couple drinks, and joking around I say, ‘so … you wanna fight me?’”

Mears, knowing his six-footnine, beast-of-a-friend was messing around, said sure.

“Okay! You just signed yourself up,” Mane told his friend. “You’re doing our movie. You said you wanted to fight me; in the movie you’ll have your chance.”

The movie is called Compound Fracture. Produced, written and starring both Mane and his wife Renae Geerlings, it tells the story of a guy name Michael Wolffsen (Mane) who gains custody of his sister’s son after she was murdered by her husband. One day, Michael gets an enigmatic and urgent call from his estranged, paranoid father. He packs up the family and travels to see his old man, only to find him in the midst

After all, that’s what friends are for. Right?

Before Tyler Mane broke into Hollywood, the Saskatchewanian spent more than a decade working as a professional wrestler.

He wrestled in leagues here in Canada, and in the United Kingdom and Japan. Eventually, he was signed with one of the major players in the wrestling industry — the WCW.

That audition was simple. Bryan [Singer] stood on the coffee table, I choked him and I got the role.

Tyler Mane

of building an unbreachable compound where strange things are happening.

Is it just a figment of Michael’s father’s imagination? Or is there something supernatural at play?

You’ll have to swing by Rainbow Cinemas on March 15th to find out.

But in the meantime, your inner horror geek can rest easy knowing that in the film, the guy who played Michael Myers does indeed bust the guy who played Jason straight in the chops. More than once.

But it was during a two-year stint with the Consejo Mundial De Lucha Libre in Mexico that Mane was first introduced to the film world.

“I don’t really want to talk about that,” he jokes. “It was one of those old-time wrestling movies. I played an intergalactic vampire with three midget wrestler sidekicks.”

Mane stops and chuckles about his inaugural role. “I couldn’t even read the script,” he remembers. “But they didn’t care. They just told me to Continued on next page »

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Photos: courtesy of Mane Entertainment

say whatever I wanted, they were going to dub over it anyway … It certainly wasn’t the greatest part, but at least I wasn’t getting dropped on my head.”

The movie bug had officially stuck its teeth in Mane, and pretty soon his film roles would get better.

Much better.

In 2000, he landed a role of Sabretooth in this little movie called X-Men. “They originally wanted me to do some stunt work on the film, and wanted my former tag team partner, Kevin Nash, to play Sabretooth,” explains Mane. “But then someone saw a picture of me with my long blonde hair and was like, ‘Okay, that’s the guy we need.’”

So Mane went in to audition for the part. To get more in character, he got some costume vampire teeth and polygripped them into his mouth, then went to meet with X-Men director Bryan Singer.

“I walked in and there was this kid sitting on a couch, typing,” says Mane. “I said I was there to see Bryan Singer. The kid on the couch told me just a minute, and I wasn’t really sure what to think. A minute later the kid looked up and said, ‘Okay, I’m Bryan.’”

Then and there, Mane learned not to judge anyone in Hollywood based on their appearance. He also learned that some parts are remarkably easy to land.

“That audition was simple,” he admits. “Bryan stood on the coffee table, I choked him and I got the role.”

Other roles would follow. Ajax in the ancient Greek epic Troy, Michael Myers in Halloween, Rufus in The Devil’s Rejects.

It was while filming the latter that Mane would meet another friend who, like Mears, he’d eventually convince to be in his new movie.

“We were all over at Rob Zombie’s house for a barbecue,” remembers Mane. “We’d just finished doing The Devil’s Rejects and we were sitting in the backyard. Leslie Easterbrook turned to my wife and said that we should try doing our own stuff, create our own projects.”

Leslie Easterbrook, in case you’re wondering, is best known as the sassy, smouldering Sgt. Callahan of Police Academy fame. And when she gave Mane and Geerlings that tidbit of advice, they were grateful. So much so that when, after a year and a half of working on the script, Compound Fracture was ready for filming, they called Easterbrook.

“I told her that we finally did it, we finally had a film of our own ready to go,” says Mane. “So I asked her if she’d be interested in being part of it.”

Easterbrook jumped at the chance.

But the drive to recruit friends for the movie was far from over.

“Basically, what I did was call all my friends to come over and play,” laughs Mane. “Todd Farmer (writer of Jason X, My Bloody Valentine) and Daniel Roebuck (The Fugitive, U.S. Marshals) are good friends of mine, so I sucked them into doing it. Tyler Bates, another friend of mine, was our score supervisor. He’s worked on 300, Watchmen, the Halloween movies.”

Naturally, Mane’s wife Renae (an actress and wildly successful comic book editor) was cast in the movie.

Throw Muse Watson, who played the serial killer in I Know What You Did Last Summer, into the mix and what you have is a movie filled with friends, featuring three legendary on-screen killers.

“It was fantastic,” says Mane.

“The whole experience. It was easily the best time I’ve ever had making a movie. We were all playing, working hard, having a good time. And it really shows up in the final product.”

Compound Fracture March 15 @ Rainbow Cinemas www.compoundfracturethemovie.com

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Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Paquet

Dead end

SGI’s proposed hike on motorcycle insurance comes at the issue from the wrong end

O

h boy, motorcyclists in Saskatchewan are peeved! And for good reason.

You see, recently SGI announced a proposal to hike the insurance rates on motor vehicles in this province.

Specifically, the crown corporation is eyeing an overall vehicle increase of 1.03 percent, along with a 1.23 surcharge on rates.

Wait a second. That doesn’t sound like something people should be up in arms over, does it?

No, of course not. But the suggested increase of 73% on motorcycles is most certainly causing aggravation amongst some vehicle owners. To put that into some sort of perspective, there are an estimated 25,000 registered motorcycles in this province, and while all won’t experience insurance increases, some motorcycle owners could be paying over $1,000 more each year just to insure their bikes.

Stop and look at that number again.

Seriously. No wonder the motorcyclists of Saskatchewan are outraged.

So outraged, in fact, they’ve formed a group called RAGE (Riders Against Government Exploitation). And on the petition website www.change. org they have come out against the proposed increases, stating, “It has been mentioned that this increase is to pay for the motorcycle accidents but by the 2010 reports they have made available to the public, motorcycles accounted for 0.65% of vehicles involved in accidents and only 2.26% of injury

cally touch a bike to get your license.

Sure, once you have that learner’s permit you face a number of restrictions, but even those are ridiculous.

Case in point: no driving at night.

Great, sure, but how about driving during the day? Are we really going to legally allow an inexperienced driver to hop on a motorcycle and drive around the city, as long as they’re home by sundown? That’s preposterous. Before anyone gets a learner’s permit, we think all new drivers should be required to take an actual road test (along with the written test) before you give them a licence to, you know, make sure they can actually drive and stuff. That only makes sense, right?

And you know what else would make sense? A mandatory safedriving course. At the moment, SGI recommends an SGI-approved motorcycle training course, but you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to. Why not be proactive here? Why not make new motorcycle riders learn how to drive properly, teach them how to react to dangerous situations, and how they should drive in a safe, but effective manner before allowing them on the streets?

In fact, we believe there should be mandatory driving safety courses for all new drivers before they get their licences (motorcycles, cars, trucks, you name it). After all, the surge in accidents this winter (SGI is reporting 10,000 more incidents than last year) was not caused by bikers alone. And after that’s in place, perhaps we should

claims comparable to 50.6% and 49.9% respectively in passenger cars.”

And while the increase, and subsequent fallout to the proposed hike in rates is rather predictable, there’s obviously a bigger issue at play here. Whether SGI is right to increase the prices because “every year in Saskatchewan there are over 300 collisions involving motorcycles … [and] motorcycles are paying less than needed to cover their claim and expense costs,” or whether motorcyclists are indeed getting bent over a barrel isn’t our primary cause of concern, though.

What we think is more important to focus on is the reactive nature of the proposal.

Any company worth its salt (especially a crown corporation) should operate with a proactive strategy, not a knee-jerk reactive one — the latter simply attempts to band-aid a growing problem, without looking to the root cause of the issue and trying to stop it before it even gets started. We should be trying to keep the number of accidents down to begin with, rather than slapping every person who’s jumped on a bike with exorbitant insurance fees.

And with SGI, we think a proactive strategy that makes sense would begin by revamping its motorcycle graduated licence program. Did you know that all you have to do in order to get a motorcycle learner’s permit here is be 16 years old, have your parents’ consent, and pass a written test? You don’t even have to physi-

incentivize existing drivers to get behind the wheel and take a defensive driving course — we could offer them a deal on insurance if they choose to comply. Implementing such a program would cut down on the number of reckless and unaware people behind the wheel in this province, while providing inexperienced drivers with a professional and competent resource that will benefit everyone on the road.

It’s pretty simple: if you reduce the number of bad driver, you cut down on accidents. Which, in turn, would allow SGI to forego these proposed insurance rate hikes, and everybody would be happy. See, proactive approaches aren’t such a bad idea.

Now it’s time for SGI to look at its policies and procedures and realize that, in the future, if they try to nip the problem in the bud instead of taxing motorists after the fact, it would be a win-win situation for everyone.

These editorials are left unsigned because they represent the opinions of Verb magazine, not those of the individual writers.

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On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about taxi service in Saskatchewan. Here's what you had to say: – Taxi drivers work hard to support and help people in this city. Putting more cabs on the road will negatively impact those who live and work here now working hard to bring you good service. This will put them out of business and is a bad idea.

– Yes! Yes to more taxis! Hailing a cab is an impossibility and even phoning ahead usually lands you with a significant waiting time.

Another solution might be increasing the number of cabs at certain times/on certain days (like Friday Saturday late). If you didn’t want to put a bunch out right away.

text yo thoughtsur to 881 vE R B 8372

In response to “The bus stops here,” Editorial page, #65 (February 15, 2013)

– This city needs to play catchup in a number of areas, and reliable transportation (better buses that run for longer hours, more taxis etc) is one of them. Also, bike lanes around the city is the way to go.

Encourage more green ways to travel around!

– I can never get a cab when i need one but see so many cruising around empty are they choosing who to pick up

OFF TOPIC – Good idle no more article by Adam in feb 22 - 28 issue. Dave

– I agree on the issue of the need for more taxis in this city, why is it anywhere else but here in 2013 we still have this issue. I think if this city council can’t get this fixed by the time the civic election rolls around then its time for a change.

In response to “Don’t let me be misunder-

– If we are a growing city shouldn’t the number of taxis also increase?

sound off – Ya know its spring DOWNtown when kids start lighting garbage can fires.

– Timhortons trash every where rollup the rim is on f**k the enviroment im not gonna have kids what do i care

– Stephan Harper can kiss my natural Brown butt thanks for waking up the native people AHO

– A message 2 THE Gov’nt 0f Canada D0 THE MEMBERS 0F THE SENATE NEED F00D BANKS!!!

stood,” Local page, #66 (February 22, 2013)

– IDLE NO MORE Where were you last Federal Election? True change in a democracy happens in a polling station learn this please.

In response to “Don’t let me be misunder-

– A Changing Taxi Service? Really?

With Saskparty/Brad Wall created provincial debt now over $17 Billion & 20459 ppl leaving Sk last yr Verb picks “Taxi” issues?

point sitting on a bus for that long when i am only saving 5o$ n not even when u fax in the price of feeding myself on the trip it will be more then the flight it self.

– my name isss blahh blah and u cut my hair over spring break would you go out with me Reallyuexpect a hair dresser to remeber you after doing 14 cuts a day you be the one to stand out ha

stood,” Local page, #66 (February 22, 2013)

– Re stc ive recently been lookin into buses from sask to Ontario sadly it would seem it is only 5o dollars more to fly so a 36 hr bus ride or a 3hour flight for only 5odollars more i will be flying no

– POLITICS HAS LOST I’TS INTEGRETY THERE’S NO FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE VOTE SMART

– I don’t understand how Merry Christmas on a bus sign or how

a mayors prayer breakfast could infringe on the human rights of Ashu Solo. He is free to practice his religion any way he chooses.

Merry Christmas is a general well wishing to everyone and means no ill will to anyone. I wish Mr. Solo would learn to be tolerant of other religions or faiths. Mr. Solo also needs to focus on real issues. His efforts would be better spent on issues such as terrorism, gun control, child abuse or animal cruelty. Focus on something worthwhile. So tired of you being over sensitive!

– Bus service is cut to the food bank this week. Lake improvment ugly plaza Riders the poorest people in the city are paying for these now. Way to go Pat!

– I feed the wild city rabbits n squirrels in a corner of the yard.

Poop would build up there but when people walk their dogs the dogs seem to be eating it.

– Gavin Martell Sr Jada.queen Lightfoot Martell n Gavin Martell Jr I love u all my heart my loves XOXO

– It would appear that Saskatchewan is growing too fast without enough infrastrucutre. Getting into good housing in this province is near impossible we’re bursting and need to address this before it becomes an epidemic.

– Too much hate not enough kindness. Too many love songs not enough love. Too much vengeance not enough forgiveness.

– The Verb is trying to masquerade as a legit paper but is full of celeb gossip and trash why does anyone read it it’s just garbage or recycling.

– They don’t know they’re greedy.

People never do. All they know is its gett’in harder n harder.

– Plus all oil can be replaced by Hemp oil but it has been buried by money grubbing oil barons since Henry Ford built the first car that ran on it. Plus it produces 4xs the amount of mulch pulp with 4-7 xs less pollution. Ford also made side panels with plastic and hemp that was 10xs the strength of steel panels. It is sad. Please continue.

Thank you for a chance to vent some of my frustrations out. That now I know I will never build another refinery again.

Next week: What do you think about the proposed increase to motorcycle insurance and changing the way SGI licenses new drivers? Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation: We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.

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New Country Rehab

Photos: courtesy of David Leyes

Putting a new twist on old music by Alex J MacPherson

I

n with the old and out with the new. That should be the rallying cry of Toronto’s New Country Rehab, a band whose raison d’être involves resurrecting timeless music, infusing it with the sort of manic energy normally reserved for teenage punk rock shows, and turning it loose into the world. By abandoning the brittle reflexiveness of contemporary rock for the universality of old country, New Country Rehab have made roots rock feel like a breath of fresh air. Now, after the success of their eponymous debut, the foursome is back with Ghost Of Your Charms, which is sharper and more focused than its predecessor — a romp through the melodies and ideas we can all identify with. I caught up with singer and violinist John Showman to talk about making records, making compromise, and making it in spite of expectations.

Alex J MacPherson: Ghost Of Your Charms is richer and a lot more expansive than your last record. Was that intentional?

JS: Figuring out the ways in which you make studio music more effective or live music more effective is definitely a trick, and they’re different arts, unquestionably. I think maybe we just try to make stuff sound as good as we can. Once we had the skeletons of what we would do live, we started to think how we could really make it work as an audio experience.

John Showman: I think we basically just took more time in the studio. The process for writing the songs was much the same.

Obviously we write music, and then we play it onstage. And when you’re in the studio it’s very tempting to try and get as much impact out of different moments in the

AJM: One thing I liked about Ghost Of Your Charms is the sequence. It seems to flow together really well. Is that always a battle?

…what we were formed around as much as anything was playing timeless music.

John Showman

AJM: Is it difficult for you to balance accessibility and the more rootsy side of what you do?

song, so when there’s a change or a bridge or a repeat of a chorus — it’s nice to bring in the artillery to make it more exciting.

JS: I think that what we were formed around as much as anything was playing timeless music. When we started off we were interpreting a lot of other people’s music, old songs, and

AJM: With many bands there’s a huge divide between what they do onstage and what they do in the studio. Where do you come down on that question?

we were just trying to make them kind of exciting and fresh, and at the same time use elements that are somehow idiomatic. On this record what we tried to do was focus the sound a little more, so we could still have these stories. We’re still doing what we’re doing, except that it has to sound different, just by virtue of making new music.

JS: Generally what happens is everybody will have an opinion where he’ll say, “Okay I like this here, but I really like this here.” Then it becomes a matter of figuring out what’s really important to the greatest number of people, and make things happen like that. It’s about compromise, and at the same time that in the spirit of compromise you don’t lose all the integrity — sometimes you can compromise things into oblivion.

AJM: After starting this band on a whim, did you ever expect it to come this far?

JS: I think at a certain point we decided that we had something good we were doing, the four of us. That probably happened somewhere in 2011, right around the time when we did a big summer tour and were really wellreceived by a lot of big festivals.

We realized the band was something that was special for all of us.

It did exceed all of our expectations. Initially, we just wanted to have fun and play some music on a Tuesday night.

New Country Rehab March 10 @ The Exchange $15 @ Vintage Vinyl, Madame Yes, or ticketedge.ca Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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A Couple Of Things

Andréanne le Hudon’s return to making art

A

ndréanne le Hudon only learned how to enjoy making art after she stopped making art. “I was in school for a long time,” the Montrealbased artist explains, her buttery Québécois accent softening the metallic echo of a bad mobile connection. “I had an overload of art schooling. I had a lot of shows and pushed myself, and once the schooling was done, I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

After taking a break from academia, Hudon was asked to collaborate on a show in France. It was an opportunity to work on her own terms, to make art that reflected the fantasies and subtexts running through her mind. “It was really demanding, but eventually things came out,” she laughs. “It allows me to see my work from a different perspective, and realize that I don’t need to force it so much.”

Hudon’s latest project is A Couple Of Things, her first solo exhibition.

The show was cobbled together rather than created as a solid body of

by alex J MacPherson

work. She says it didn’t occur to her that A Couple Of Things was a coherent body of work until she saw it hanging in the gallery. There is, however, at least one prominent — and reflexive — theme that runs through all of the pieces in the show.

According to Hudon, that theme is the prevalence of mistakes: communication breakdowns, disruptions, and distortions. “I have an [interest] in what people say,” she explains, “and the difference between what people say and what they mean, and where that comes from.” In other words, Hudon’s show points to the fact that relationships are by nature perplexing, and that what makes sense to one person will be utterly confusing to the next.

“That’s the way relationships are built, mostly in conversations” Hudon says, pointing to the fact that discourse is always mediated and distorted. “It’s a basic need, but communication is a very complicated matter that’s almost impossible to achieve,” she continues. “That’s

Photo: courtesy of the TAE Gallery

the core of it. Identities are always distorted by the intentions of what should be communicated and what can be read by the receiver.”

Whether responsibility for these difficulties falls at the feet of popular culture or the relentless hose of information that is the internet is immaterial; what matters is that Hudon’s point cuts through the chaos, turning the lens back on the viewer — without any distortion at all.

A Couple Of Things Through March 16 @ TAE Gallery

Pride & Prejudice

Bringing a classic novel to life by alex J MacPherson

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iction’s what it is about to be a f**king human being,” David Foster Wallace once observed. He could have been talking about Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a classic novel undiminished by the passage of time and the changing landscape of society.

“Austen is phenomenal, both as a story writer and also as somebody who understood and can represent the human condition,” explains Gordon S. Miller, who plays William Collins in the Globe Theatre’s adaptation of Austen’s masterpiece. Although Miller admits he was only slightly familiar with the novel before being cast in the play, he adds that it didn’t take long to appreciate Austen’s genius. “I honestly believe she is right

up there with Shakespeare,” he says.

“And I never thought I would meet somebody else like that.”

Pride and Prejudice, which was published in 1813, is a universal story because it explores ideas familiar to everyone: the boundaries of class, the expectations of society, and the transcendence of love. But adapting the richly ornamented story of feisty Elizabeth Bennett and the aloof Fitzwilliam Darcy for the stage is a tricky business. Written by Christina Calvit in 1985, the Globe’s adaptation tightens the focus without sacrificing Austen’s richly detailed characters or the novel’s lively, music-filled atmosphere.

Perhaps the greatest difficulty for the actors is adopting the heightened tone of the characters’ speech, which

sounds formal and stilted today. “You have to break down what she’s actually saying,” Miller says, “so you can have that thought and then realize what that thought actually is — because it’s so articulate it can come across as being complicated, but in reality you have to break it down. It’s decorative, but not superfluous.”

The characters’ actions and emotions are anything but superfluous. Just as Elizabeth must struggle to break down the wall dividing the upper crust of English society from the lower orders, Darcy has to accept that he cannot control his feelings and must go against the strictures of his class.

“I think bottom line is that this story is a part of our English language and our human history,”

Miller says, explaining the reason for resurrecting the adaptation. “I think classics inform the possibilities of what we could create now. The language might change, the aesthetic might change, it all probably should change, but I think you have to honour the fact that the greats have walked before us.”

Pride & Prejudice March 6-24 @ Globe Theatre $29+ @ Globe Box Office Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Static in the System Alex Cuba follows his heart by Alex J MacPherson

I

am obliged to begin this story with a confession.

Apart from a few words crudely translated from my pidgin French and a handful of unprintable phrases I have never had occasion to use, I do not speak Spanish.

This made me nervous about profiling Alex Cuba, the Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter whose sizzling blend of Latin rhythms and Western pop has been electrifying audiences for the best part of a decade, because virtually all of his lyrics are Spanish. I expected this to be a major obstacle — but it wasn’t.

Listening to his latest album, Ruido en el Sistema / Static in the System, I was struck by how music bridges the gulf between languages and peoples. For years my appetite for foreign-language music was basically nonexistent. It never occurred to me that pop music could have the same effect as Wagner or Beethoven.

Ruido en el Sistema / Static in the System cut through my presuppositions like a knife, destroying forever the notion that meaning is derived from language.

“When I translated it to English, I saw the universal connotation of the phrase, and the statement the phrase makes,” Cuba says of the album’s title. In Cuba, “ruido en el sistema” is a popular slang term that refers to gossip and conspiracy. “When you’re trying to get a gig, for example, and another musician [says], ‘Hey, I’m better than him and I’m going to do it for less money,’” he explains. “They’re putting static in the system, putting ruido en el sistema.”

Cuba recast the phrase as the quintessential expression of our time, as well as an emblem of his global musical vision. “If you say static in the system, noise in the system, it speaks to the pressure we’re feeling toward everything, whatever’s preventing us from living our life. We can’t focus anymore because we have so much noise, so much crap pushed onto us.” In other words: listen to the music for what it is, not what society wants it to be.

Alex Cuba works in an industry obsessed with arbitrary distinctions and neatly-defined categories — a

of those things, and I guess that’s what makes my music the way it is.”

This philosophy, so apparent on Ruido en el Sistema / Static in the System, reflects Cuba’s outlook on life. Just as he wrote the album without regard for genre or style, he lives his life without thinking too much about where he comes from or where he’s going.

“One thing that I’ve done in order to live my life in present time is focusing on where I am,” he muses. “The only reason why it speaks to people who have never heard it before is because I’m choosing to live in present time in Canada and showcase my roots in more of an international way, rather

If you say static in the system, noise in the system, it speaks to the pressure we’re feeling toward everything… alex cuba

problem for artists struggling to break out from under the penumbra of what the industry calls “world music.” Cuba was born in Cuba before immigrating to Canada in 1999, but he looks sort of like Jimi Hendrix and plays searing Latin rock riffs on a shiny black Gibson. His music similarly resists classification. “I believe music is an international language,” he says. “I believe [I] can be good enough as a musician that people from anywhere can recognize that, can see that, without having to try too hard. I believe all

than thinking I’m Cuban and only Cuban.” This is the key to unlocking the record, which ought to be deemed “world music” only by people who think Spanish lyrics and spicy horns do not deserve mainstream attention. “I know that I have taken on a huge fight in terms of changing people’s perspectives,” he laughs. “I don’t even call it Cuban, I don’t even call it Canadian — I call it Alex Cuba music.”

Cuba spent more time than usual making Ruido en el Sistema / Static in the System, his fourth record since Continued on next page »

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Photos: courtesy of Christina Woerns

the critically-acclaimed Humo De Tabaco, which he released in 2006.

He thinks of the finished product as an amalgamation of his earlier work and a conscious attempt to expand his sound. “In terms of creativity, in terms of exploring new musical territories. I was very ambitious about pushing it forward, you know?” On a more practical level, the album took a long time because Cuba paid attention to every detail. He chose to record the Latin sounds in Havana and the rock and roll instruments — guitars, organs, and a Fender Rhodes — in North America. “I keep going back to Havana and recording the

Photo: courtesy of the artist

horns there and the percussion, because they are real sounds,” he says.

“I think it comes from being a musician way before I became a singersongwriter. I pay a lot of attention to what goes underneath the voice.”

Cuba’s attention to detail and the wide-ranging musicality of the record come to a point on “Nadie Como Tu,” a scorching collaboration with Nelly Furtado dominated by Cuba’s buttery voice, punchy guitar riffs, and the sort of syncopated rhythms that demand dancing. The

power of the music — the pure unalloyed joy of two voices singing together — cuts through the language barrier and dispels the usual craving for translation. Yet Cuba admits blending Latin and Western influences has never been easy for him.

“One of the most terrifying things for me since I became a recording artist has been to sound like fusion,” he says, “Trying to marry two worlds and making it come out like they are sounding fused.”

I have no idea what he and Furtado are singing about on “Nadie Como Tu,” but it doesn’t really matter. Alex Cuba’s music is fusion in the truest sense of the word — two entities coming together to create something entirely new. Something meant to be understood.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Ruido en el Sistema / Static in the System and Cuba’s other records is that his latest effort includes several English songs, including “Are You,” an English rendition of a Spanish song called “Eres.” Rather than grapple with the difficulties of translation, Cuba enlisted a New York-based lyricist named Alexis Foxe to rewrite the snarling guitar anthem without sacrificing the sound and feel of his sinewy Spanish lyrics.

“It never works, really,” Cuba says of straight translation, adding that it was important to keep his identity consistent while crossing into another language. “It was very important to pay attention to that, and I think I came out of this very pleased.”

Cuba, who is perfectly bilingual, waited many years before singing in English. “I still see it as a challenge,” he explains. “No matter what, I wasn’t born in this country — and, in fact, I came here when I was twenty-four years old. My main goal remains to listen to my heart when it comes to making my own music and recording.

And the music is coming from there.”

Cuba’s English songs, many of which were not included on the record but will eventually be released as singles, are uniformly excellent. His smooth and liquid vocal style eased the transition, and he sounds comfort-

able working in his second language.

The best use of English on the record comes at the end of “Creo,” a simple folk song that builds into a towering rock anthem, complete with fuzzedout guitars, pounding drums, and a soaring synthesizer line. The bulk of the song is sung in Spanish, but Cuba switches to English for the coda: “I believe / I believe in love / I believe / it’s the only way.” It is a truly universal message, and one that captures everything he stands for — in English and in Spanish.

Cuba’s music is from his heart.

Maybe, if we are lucky, his vision for

a modern musical landscape where language doesn’t matter and feeling is everything can cut through the static in the system.

Alex Cuba March 13 @ Lyric Theatre, Swift Current, SK. $35 @ blendersmusic.ca

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Brand New Bay

Photos courtesy of Danielle Tocker

Monterey Bay Bistro offers bold bistro fare in a rejuvenated space by jessica bickford

I

f you think you recognize Monterey Bay from the outside, it’s because you do — it used to be the Mediterranean Bistro and the exterior hasn’t changed. Luckily the interior is a different story, and you will find a much brighter and more open space, but with the intimate feel that a bistro needs.

Steven Kosabek, the new owner, is actually also the original owner of the space, but he sold off the business for a while before buying it back to open it up under a new

being rich with a touch of spice, and the other letting the cubes of meat speak for themselves. This dish was served with three different sauces: a chimichurri with parsley and garlic, a sweet apricot and raisin chutney, and a great cucumber raita.

For my main I had the prawn linguine in a basil bechamel sauce.

The prawns were 4-ounce Australian jumbo beasts, served shell-on and fire-grilled. The prawns, which looked like lobster tails, were juicy, and featured a really great smoky flavour from the grill.

The tender pasta was covered in the creamy, garlicky, herbaceous and very fragrant basil bechamel sauce, and topped with some red peppers and parmesan. This was a perfect dish to satisfy any cream sauce craving.

Mmm, dessert! Ginger toffee cake was the pick, and it came smothered in toffee sauce and decorated with whipped cream. The buttery, moist and sticky cake was fluffy on the inside but dense around the edges, and boasted great ginger and toffee tones.

Rich, decadent, and perfect for sharing — but it’s so good, you might just want one for yourself.

name. With him is a return to what I recall as the original premise of the space — a clean atmosphere, with good food, nice service, and monthly themed menus that go alongside their regular selections.

March is Moroccan month!

I had a classic three-course meal, which started with an appetizer of international skewers. The lamb tagine skewer looked great, with perfect grill marks seared into the meat. It also happened to be quite moist. The two different beef skewers also had great flavours,with one

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide Monterey Bay Chambord Martini

This sweet yet fully adult cocktail looks like a very pretty red sunset.

With hints of vanilla and black raspberry, it is a great dessert drink (or even nice to start the night with).

Ingredients

1 oz vanilla vodka 1 oz Chambord Royale 1 oz cranberry juice 1 oz pineapple juice maraschino cherry

Directions

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake all of the ingredients together.

Strain into a chilled martini glass and add the cherry, either in the glass or on the rim.

Monterey Bay Bistro has only been open for a little over a month, but they seem to have their priorities in order. Steven says he is focusing on the food, the atmosphere and the service, and that he is already pleased with the first two. His intent to use fresh ingredients, never frozen, and to let his chefs play with the monthly feature menus sounds like a recipe for renewed success.

Monterey Bay Bistro 2589 Quance St. | 347 3230 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@TheGeekCooks jbickford@verbnews.com

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Next Week

coming up

Leonard Cohen

Aaron Pritchett

100 Mile House

@ Brandt Centre Saturday, March 9 – $55+

@ Casino regina Wednesday, March 13 – $55+

@ The Club Thursday, May 2 – $15

Singer, songwriter, poet, novelist, Companion of the Order of Canada, member of the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ordained Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk — and that’s just the tip of the Leonard Cohen iceberg. He’s the original Canadian Renaissance Man. The lyrical ladies’ man. The guy who Lou Reed once said belongs to the “highest and most influential echelon of songwriters.” And now this Montreal artist is coming to Regina and bringing his deep, crackling bass voice and a catalogue of classic songs with him. Here’s your chance to see the songwriter who created such exquisite numbers as “Suzanne,” “Hallelujah” and “Famous Blue Raincoat.” Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

When you think of country music, what comes to mind? Ask some people that question and they’ll say, “A sad genre of music full of twangs and drawls.” Thing is, these people probably haven’t heard of Aaron Pritchett. One of Canada’s most captivating country solo artists to watch, Pritchett makes country music about living life to the fullest, and puts on live shows intended to get the audience up and out of their seats. Since winning the Project Discovery Talent Contest at the Canadian Country Music Awards in 2001, this B.C. native has released five albums with 15 top-ten hits and won a slew of awards. He’ll be appearing at Casino Regina as a special guest of the CMT Hitlist Tour 2013. Tickets available at www.casinoregina.com.

Sweet and elegant. Uplifting and beautiful. Those aren’t the only words to describe the music of 100 Mile House, but they’re as good as any. Hailing from Edmonton, this folk trio — consisting of husband and wife duo Peter Stone and Denise MacKay, along with multi-instrumentalist Scott Zubot — uses sweeping harmonies, captivating lyrics and intricate, lush arrangements to create a sound that’s sure to please. If you’ve ever heard their 2011 album, the critically acclaimed hollow ponds, you’ll know exactly what I mean. .

The trio’s soon-to-be released followup effort, Wait With Me, is a haunting record that’s equally as good. Be sure to get down to the Club to see these guys when they roll through town this spring.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: the artist / the artist / Bri Vos and Patrick Kerby

Sask music Preview The SaskMusic investment Program’s deadline of March 15 is fast approaching! The program enables artists and music industry professionals to engage in activities that will enhance their music and/or professional careers. Applications may come from commercial artists and recording industry professionals, and will be evaluated by a peer jury of industry professionals. For more information, or to apply, please see: http://www.saskmusic.org/index. php?p=Investment%20Programs Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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March 1 » March 9 The most complete live music listings for Regina.

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DVBBS / Pure Ultra Lounge — This electronic act was named “One To Watch 2013” at the Canadian Urban Music Awards.

10pm / $5-10 (www.ticketedge.ca) Whatever / The Sip — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 10pm / Cover TBD Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — A country singer from Estevan. 8pm / $10 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm

F.O.G.D.O.G. / McNally’s — Break out your tracksuit for a night of covers. 10pm / $5 Rob Munro / The Pump — Rockin’ tunes to get the party started. 9pm / Cover TBD Whatever / The Sip — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 10pm / Cover TBD Jam Sessions / Smokin’ Okies BBQ — Featuring host band Rickie Pollack and Someone Else’s Kids. 2pm / No cover Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — A country singer from Estevan. 8pm / $10

Saturday 2

Friday 1 Super Nova / The Artful Dodger — A night of good tunes. 7:30pm / Cover TBD Mid-Winter Blues Festival / Casino Regina — Featuring Ross Neilsen, Marcia Ball, and Powder Blues Band. 7pm / $40 (www.reginablues.ca) DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests. 10pm / $5 Peripheral Vision / The Exchange — A band making waves on the international jazz scene. 8pm / Cover TBD DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s — Local DJs spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover Big Chill Friday / Lancaster Taphouse — Come get your chill on with DJ Fatbot. 10pm / Cover TBD F.O.G.D.O.G. / McNally’s — Break out your tracksuit for a night of covers. 10pm / $5 Rob Munro / The Pump — Rockin’ tunes to get the party started. 9pm / Cover TBD

Sunday 3

Ingrid Gatin w/Twin Voices / The Artful Dodger — Voice- and accordion-driven folk. 8pm / $10/15 Shane Reoch, Stillhouse Poets, Ray Eberle, Greg Mildenberger Duo / Bushwakker Brewpub — Come celebrate the Mid-Winter Blues Fest. 1pm / Cover TBD Mid-Winter Blues Festival / Casino Regina — Featuring Kim WIlson’s Blues Allstars, Albert Castiglia, The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer. 7pm / $40 (www.reginablues.ca) DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests. 10pm / Cover $5 Voices of the Dark Tour / The Exchange — Featuring Marduk, Moonspell, Inquisition, The Foreshadowing, and Death Wolf.

7pm / Cover TBD Greg Mildenberger Duo, Jeff Mertick, T.B. Judd, Shane Reoch / Lancaster Taphouse — It’s getting bluesy in here! 1pm / Cover TBD

Martha Wainwright / The Artesian on 13th — A wildly talented folk-rock singer/ songwriter. 8pm / $32 (advance), $37 (door) Stephen Fearing / The Artful Dodger — An amazing singer/songwriter from Vancouver. 8pm / $10/15

Monday 4

Open Mic Night / The Artful Dodger — Come down and jam! 8pm / No cover Monday Night Jazz / Bushwakker — Featuring Whiteboy Slim playing originals and classics from Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, and more. 8pm / No cover Tegan and Sara / Conexus Arts Centre — Some kick-ass Canadian indie rockers for your listening pleasure. 8pm / $26.50+ (www.conexusartscentre.ca) Shakura S’Aida / The Exchange — An amazing jazz and blues vocalist. 6pm / $10 (students), $20 (advance @ tickets.globetheatrelive.com), $25 (door)

Tuesday 5

Troubadour Tuesdays / Bocados — Come check out some live tunes from local talents. 8pm / No cover The Pink Floyd Experience / Casino Regina — A tribute to the legendary Pink Floyd. 8pm / $40+ (www.casinoregina.com)

Wednesday 6

Hayes Carll, Brass Buttons / The Artful Dodger — Kickass country from south of the border. 8pm / $10/15 Wednesday Night Folk / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring Dr. Bird and Blue Beat, playing ska, rocksteady and reggae.

9pm / No cover Jam Night / McNally’s — Come enjoy some local talent. 9pm / No cover

Thursday 7

2 Beats & A Hat / Artful Dodger — Presented by DJ Verbal & E-Major, the first Thursday of every month. 7pm / $5 Justin Lacroix / Creative City Centre — Whether it’s folk, rock or funk, this singer from Winnipeg does it right. 7:30pm / $10 Queen City Rocks / Exchange — The battle of the bands continues. 8pm Decibel Frequency / Gabbo’s Nightclub — A night of electronic fun. 10pm / Cover $5 PS Fresh / The Hookah Lounge — Featuring DJ Ageless and DJ Drewski. 7pm / No cover Open Mic Night / King’s Head Tavern — Come and show Regina what you got.

8pm / No cover Big Bad Storm / McNally’s Tavern — Covering everything from Zeppelin to The Stones. 8:30pm / $5 Brian Kelly / Pump — Some rockin’ country to get the party started. 9pm / Cover TBD Alex Runions / Whiskey Saloon — This local country musician knows how to move a crowd. 8pm / $5 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover TBD

Friday 8

The InClines / Casino Regina — A musical homage to the great Patsy Cline. 8pm / $20-25 (www.casinoregina.com) DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests. 10pm / $5 DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s Martini & Cocktail Club — Local DJs spin top 40 hits every Friday night that are sure to get you on the dance floor. 9pm / $5 cover Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — Come out and get your weekend

started with DJ Fatbot. 10pm / Cover TBD Sean Burns Band / McNally’s — A traveling singer reminiscent of Steve Earle or Blue Rodeo. 10pm / $5 Brian Kelly / The Pump — Some rockin’ country to get it started. 9pm / Cover TBD Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover Parlor Trixx / The Sip — It’s gonna get heavy in here when these local rockers take to the stage. 10pm / Cover TBD Jeffery Straker / Westminster United Church — A concert in celebration of Women’s Day. 7:50pm / $30 (available at Ten Thousand Villages, Bach and Beyond, and Cobb Swanson Music) Alex Runions / Whiskey Saloon — This local country musician knows how to rock a crowd. 8pm / $10 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover TBD

Saturday 9

Leonard Cohen / Brandt Centre — Canada’s Renaissance Man is back on tour.

8pm / $55-275 (ticketmaster.ca) Paul Revere and the Raiders / Casino Regina — Come see these Hit Parade Hall of Famers do their thing. 8pm / $45+ (www. casinoregina.com) RSO Masterworks: The Antarctica Symphony / Conexus — Featuring Simon Fryer and Sophie Bouffard. 8pm / $33-63 (www.tickets.reginasymphony.com) Grant Davidson, Devon Floyd / Creative City Centre — Soulful, roots/folk music you don’t want to miss. 7:30pm / $10 DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests. 10pm / $5 Melissa Mannett Band / McNally’s Tavern — Playing pop, country and rock.

10pm / $5 Brian Kelly / The Pump — Some rockin’ country to get it started. 9pm / Cover TBD Drewski / Pure — Come on down and dance the night away with this local DJ. 10pm / $5 cover Parlor Trixx / The Sip — It’s gonna get heavy in here. 10pm / Cover TBD Jam Sessions / Smokin’ Okies BBQ — Promoting blues and country tunes. 2pm / No cover Alex Runions / Whiskey Saloon — This local country musician knows how to rock a crowd. 8pm / $10

Get listed Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know! layout@verbnews.com

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friday, february 22 @

earls

Earls 1875 Victoria Avenue East (306) 949 4955 Music vibe / Changes all the time,

from top 40 and indie to lounge and electro Featured deals / $1 off mojitos, any flavour including vanilla porn and raspberry Drink of Choice / Classic caesar and mojitos top eats / The bacon cheddar burger or the Cajun chicken

Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, March 8. facebook.com/verbregina

Photography by Bebzphoto

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Fee-Fi-Fo Fun

Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Jack the Giant Slayer is a light, easy adventure flick for the whole family by adam hawboldt

Y

ou all remember the old Jack and the Beanstalk folktale, right?

The one about the young boy who trades his mother’s cow for a bunch of magic beans? You all know that his mom, who is pissed, throws the beans out the window, where they grow into a beanstalk. Jack climbs it, finds the house of a giant, steals a hen that lays golden eggs

You see, while Bryan Singer’s new flick, Jack the Giant Slayer, is based on the original folktale there are a lot of things that are, umm, wildly different, thanks to Singer’s use of another closely associated fairy tale, Jack the Giant Killer.

For starters, instead of having one giant as the villain, Jack the Giant Slayer features an entire race of giants who live in a kingdom in the clouds.

Jack the giant slayer Bryan Singer Starring Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, Ian McShane, Stanley Tucci + Eleanor Tomlinson Directed by

115 minutes | PG

who falls for the farm boy, Jack (Nicholas Hoult). Also appearing is a king (Ian McShane), his power-hungry, not-to-be-trusted advisor (Stanley Tucci), and a swashbuckling soldier (Ewan McGregor).

Oh, and Jack’s reason for going up the stalk has changed, too. In Jack the Giant Slayer, when the magic beans sprout they grow heavenward, and the princess gets caught up in the stalk. Of course, Jack has to go rescue her.

What ensues is another all-tohell-and-back war between the giants and the humans.

Now, the question is: do all these changes help or hamper the movie?

Personally, I dug them. Jack the Giant Slayer (which is filmed in 3D) is a cool, modern spin on the tale most of us heard as kids. What’s more, the battle scenes are fun, the cinematography is excellent and Stanley Tucci plays a terrific villain.

…the battle scenes are fun … and Stanley Tucci plays a terrific villain.

Adam Hawboldt

and a magic harp that plays itself.

Then Jack cuts down the stalk while the giant is chasing him, and the giant plummets to his death.

What am I thinking?

Of course you know the story.

Nearly everyone in the Western world has heard it at one time or another, in one form or another.

And now that story is being brought to life on the big screen — kind of.

We first learn of these giants in the movie’s opening scene, when a young Jack is being told the story of these mythical figures, who were banished centuries ago and who have vowed revenge on the human race ever since.

Fast forward 10 years. The cow in the original becomes a horse, the magic beans are still in play, but in Singer’s version of the fairy tale there’s also a princess (Eleanor Tomlinson)

But the best thing about the film is that it knows exactly what it is. It isn’t trying to be dark or profound or revelatory. It’s just trying to be a light and easy adventure that will entertain kids and hold the attention of adults.

And it succeeds.

Don’t be mistaken, Jack the Giant Slayer isn’t a classic. It isn’t in the same ballpark as, say, The Princess Bride (which sits atop this genre’s

heap.) But, overall, it’s an entertaining flick the whole family can enjoy.

If only there were more laughs!

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Overdone

New teen comedy, 21 and Over, misses the mark more than it hits it by adam hawboldt

D

o you remember the birthday when you were finally legally allowed to drink?

Remember that party? All the nasty shots, the spinning rooms, the stumbling, fumbling, bumbling your way home? The trash can next to your bed and the projectile vomiting?

Yeah … me neither.

And chances are Jeff Chang, the main character in the latest teen comedy 21 and Over, won’t either.

Written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (two of the dudes responsible for The Hangover), 21 and Over follows Jeff Chang (played by Justin Chon of Twilight fame) on the night of his 21st birthday.

In his day-to-day life, Jeff Chang is a straight-laced, straight-A student with a domineering father. He’s the kind of guy who says please and thank you and is sh**baked scared to do anything risky.

But on his 21st birthday his friends Miller (Miles Teller of Project X) and Casey (Skylar Astin of Pitch Perfect) decide to help Jeff Chang to change all that. What follows is a drunken odyssey. Which makes perfect sense — once you get to know Jeff Chang’s friends.

Photo: Courtesy of Relativity Media

And before we cut to Jeff Chang’s birthday let me say something: throughout this review Jeff Chang will always be referred to by his whole name. That’s what they do in the movie, so much so it becomes a chorus of sorts. So that’s what we’ll do here.

…the amount of punishment Jeff Chang takes throughout the duration of the film is almost on par with, say, Wile E. Coyote. It’s that preposterous.

Adam Hawboldt

When we first meet Miller and Casey they are naked as the day they were born, strolling across campus and swearing to themselves the time-honoured oath, “This never happened.”

Right. On to the birthday party.

What begins with a few casual beers soon devolves into the inebriated threesome stumbling from one misadventure to another. Pep rallies, sorority parties, a dorm

21 and over Directed by Jon Lucas + Scott Moore Starring Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Justin Chon + Sarah Wright 93 minutes | 14A

where some strange video-gamelike drinking games are being held, and more.

Naturally, things go awry, and soon it’s up to Miller and Casey to get Jeff Chang home and ready for his med-school interview the following day. And that, dear reader, is by no means as easy as it may sound. I know, I know: what a shocking and unexpected turn of events.

If all this sounds a tad familiar (a bunch of friends fumbling from one misadventure to another, encountering shenanigans and hijinks along the way), it’s because it is.

Think about it: Road Trip, Euro Trip, Sex Drive (and a whole host of other

“teen raunch” comedies) all use the same formula.

But what makes 21 and Over stand out — not in a good way — is the level of absurdity it reaches How absurd? Well, let’s just say that the amount of punishment Jeff Chang takes throughout the duration of the film is almost on par with, say, Wile E. Coyote. It’s that preposterous.

Sure, there are some funny moments in the film (almost all coming courtesy of either Jeff Chang or racially charged humour), but for the most part, the only people who will truly find this film funny fall into two groups. First, those who aren’t

old enough to go on a bender like this. And second, those who are old enough but still think it’s hilarious to drop your friend out of a second-storey window whilst you’re filled to the gills with beer and tequila.

Needless to say, five years from now people certainly won’t be saying “21 and Over, maaan … that sh*t was epic!”

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@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Š Elaine M. Will | blog.E2W-Illustration.com | Check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions!

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ACROSS 1. Not in use 5. Time gone by 9. Organization of employees 10. False witnesses 12. Give one’s approval 13. Passionate 15. On the heavy side 16. Cows eat it 18. Spoil the beauty of 19. Old-looking 21. In spite of that 22. Golfer’s warning 23. Fight off 25. Hockey official 27. Moulin Rouge is one 29. Top prize in a lottery

32. Throws away 36. Fusses 37. Remaining after expenses 39. Ask an unreasonable price 40. Cut the grass 41. Soft and comfortable 43. Single prefix 44. Suspenders 46. Part of ERA 48. Destroy by slow disintegration 49. Alternative to high heels 50. Gives a new colour to 51. Till compartment

DOWN 1. Foot part 2. Stop being alive 3. Taking too much time 4. __ level 5. Mixture of gypsum, sand and water 6. Pretentiousness 7. Unhappy 8. Minor earthquake 9. Treatment 11. U-shaped part of a drainpipe 12. At a great distance 14. It has branches and leaves 17. Charges with carbon dioxide

20. Packs of cards A 22. Unborn baby 24. Drink like a cat 26. Gave grub to 28. Job incentives 29. Doorframe piece 30. Love deeply 31. Scaredy-cat 33. Riding horses B 34. Sheets of glass 35. Slide sideways 38. Larceny 41. Surrender possession of 42. One of the Ivy League colleges 45. Acting more shy than one really is 47. Went fast on foot

sudoku answer key

4 7 9 3 6 8 5 2 1 6 3 1 7 5 2 9 4 8 5 2 8 4 9 1 7 3 6 7 1 4 5 3 6 2 8 9 2 5 3 8 4 9 1 6 7 8 9 6 1 2 7 3 5 4 1 8 5 2 7 4 6 9 3 3 6 7 9 8 5 4 1 2 9 4 2 6 1 3 8 7 5

crossword canadian criss-cross

3 9 4 6 1 7 8 2 5 7 1 8 5 2 4 3 9 6 5 6 2 9 8 3 4 7 1 8 3 7 2 4 6 5 1 9 9 2 1 7 3 5 6 4 8 6 4 5 8 9 1 7 3 2 4 8 9 3 5 2 1 6 7 2 7 3 1 6 8 9 5 4 1 5 6 4 7 9 2 8 3

timeout

© walter D. Feener 2012

Horoscopes March 1 – March 7 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

Cat Stevens once sang, “It’s not time to make a change / Just relax, take it easy.” These are words you’ll want to live by this week, Aries.

Has something been puzzling you lately, Leo? If so, here’s some good news: this week all the pieces are going to fall into place. Or nearly all of them.

Productivity is the name of the game this week, Sagittarius. Good thing for you it’ll come easy. Just try, and you shall succeed.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Someone is going to try to rain on your parade this week, Taurus.

Better bring an umbrella, or else you’re going to get drenched.

Time to get down and dirty this week, Virgo. There will be some tasks that need seeing to, so roll up your sleeves and have at ‘em.

Conventions are going to try to stifle your unconventional nature this week, Capricorn. Don’t let that happen. Fight for your right to party!

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

Your moods are going to swing more than a bathroom door at the Credit Union Centre this week, dear Gemini. Be prepared.

Smile, you’re on camera! Okay, not really, but you should try smiling more this week, Libra. It’s healthy and good for you.

Has your head been in the clouds lately? If so, don’t fret. Something will come along this week and send you crashing back into reality.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

You know that old saying about the calm before the storm, Cancer?

Well, this week is the calm. So enjoy it.

The next little bit might get tumultuous.

Is there a lot of drama in your life, Scorpio? If so, don’t let it bog you down. Take a step back and see if there’s something you can do about it.

If things get a bit strange this week, Pisces, don’t have a crap attack. Keep your head level and do what Tina from Bob’s Burgers would do.

sudoku 3 4 6 1 5 7 8 3 6 9 3 4 8 7 5 1 2 7 5 4 6 9 1 2 4 8 3 5 2 7 9 1 6 9 2 8

crossword answer key

A

9 8 2 6 3 1 5 2 4 8 4 7 7 1 5 6 2 9 5 3 8 6 7 3 1 7 4 6 9 3 8 5 4 1 9 2

B

19

Jade’s Smoker’s Corner

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